Three long days, Kiba kun
by mirai3k
Summary: Kiba has a few interesting conversations with Naruto, Neji, and Hinata. Hinata has no idea how popular she is. [3 part fic. set post Neji vs. Hinata and pre Neji vs. Naruto match in Chuunin Exams. traces of NaruHina, NejiHina, and KibaHina]
1. Day 1

**A/N:** Don't know where this came from but it's going to be a three-part fic. Basically three conversations Kiba has in the three days after the Neji-Hinata preliminary match. Backstory/conversation-ish. I'm kinda happy with it though :) :hearts Kiba:

As always, read, review, and make my day!

_Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, neither is Kiba. Oh well :gives them to Hinata:_

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**Day 1:**

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Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba had never quite warmed up to one another despite practically growing up together. The preliminary matches of the Chuunin exam hadn't helped much either in that respect.

Kiba, as Naruto put it, had been the underdog although both boys had put on a good show.

Still, it wasn't difficult to see, both boys were very similar: hasty, wild, and out of control. Both had trouble when they were told to stand still. Both worried about Hyuga Hinata in their own way and hated Hyuga Neji for their own respective reasons.

So when Inuzuka Kiba was ready to leave the hospital after recovering from his match against Naruto, the sight of his female team mate in the hospital bed next door naturally made him want to kill her cousin. To anyone who knew Kiba, irrational and reckless but loyal to his team, it was no surprise.

He didn't know, however, if he should have been surprised at the sight of Uzumaki Naruto coming in to see his team mate.

Standing by the doorway to Hinata's hospital room, the boys made small talk in which Kiba reluctantly acknowledged him as an impressive opponent and Naruto beamed in that cocky way of his, bragging a bit, until Kiba asked about Hinata. Naruto gave him the story and Kiba could have kicked something or clawed something or killed someone but not just anyone. The mental image of a particular Hyuga genius was becoming clearer in his head.

"Why didn't she give up?" Kiba snarled. He had specifically _told _her to if she had been matched up against him.

"She had something to prove." He sounded very grown up saying this but Naruto didn't care. He knew the feeling—the need to prove—only too well.

Kiba didn't think proving anything was worth your life but then again Kiba hadn't lived the kind of life Naruto, or Hinata, or even Neji—although he didn't think of him then—had.

Maybe it was what made the Inuzuka so different from the blond, hyperactive Genin.

"I'm going to kill that Hyuga bastard."

"Not yet," Naruto smirked. "Wait till after the main matches."

"Why? Who's he up against?"

"Me."

Kiba eyes went wide, eyebrows getting lost in his bangs. "You're dead!"

"No! _He's_ dead."

"Quite honestly, I'm sure even _Hinata _with her Byakugan could wipe the floor with you. Seeing what Neji did to _her, _you're _very_ much dead."

"That's a lot of talk coming from the underdog," Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't underestimate Neji. Kurenai-sensei told me he was about to actually kill her even after the match was over!" Just the thought of it made Kiba's fingers curl to a fist. They had when Kurenai had told him, clawing his own flesh so hard that he had drawn blood.

What had Hinata ever done to the jerk anyway? "Four Jounin had to stop him, baka!"

"Yeah, he lost it…I was there," Naruto said bitterly, recalling the memory, "but it won't matter in a month," he beamed, mood changing suddenly like only his could. "I'm going to kick his ass in a month!"

"You'll probably get yours kicked," Kiba sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, "but I'll cheer for you anyway."


	2. Day 2

**A/N:** thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last bit! It really pushed me to write. Here's Day 2…the mood's a little different…it's Neji's fault!

As always, read, review, and make my day!

_Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, neither is Kiba…or Neji…(damn!)_

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**Day 2:**

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Hyuga Neji stood outside the village's hospital, debating whether he should follow his uncle's orders and check up Hinata or if talking to a medic-nin about her condition would be a sufficient alternative. There would be other reasons for him to visit her of course, reasons his conscience would list repeatedly were he to bother listening.

He knew an apology was in order and although his conscience pressed the point, his pride flatly refused to believe it. A fight was a fight after all, a match was a match. One of the two contenders was supposed to win at any rate. So what if it had been him? Did they expect him to go _easy_ on her because of all his sickening ties to her? Did blood and duty require that he _surrender _becoming a Chuunin too? He had done what needed to be done, he told himself…but one could only deny so much. He had to admit to himself that he had crossed the line with his last move. In the last few minutes of the fight, the situation had shifted from a formal match to a personal vendetta. Moreover, his actions were unforgivable…even if she _had_ seen through everything and read him like a bleeding book…

_And it had hurt._

Hinata may have been quiet and soft-spoken but Hinata had never missed a beat.

"_I can see that you are suffering more than me."_

And he had realized then and there that he had not hidden it well enough.

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It was well past lunchtime when Kiba left the hospital and thought of getting Akamaru back from Hana's care after visiting Hinata for the second time that day. Not much change. She had been asleep for the last two days.

Kiba had sat there for two hours, not quite knowing why, with Akamaru getting impatient every now and then until a medic had told them not to get their hopes up. She was going to survive—he had been told this the day before—and would wake up eventually but probably not for some time. The anaesthetics she was given were quite heavy for someone her age, kunoichi or not, but they had been required for the surgeries.

The medic then had then gone on to tell him that ventricular fibrillation had almost led to a heart attack in her case and damaged her circulatory system rather severely. Her blood flow and charka flow were both irregular and disturbed but for now, they were focussing on getting her heart to pump blood regularly again and the essential amount of charka. Getting her to completely recover her previous strength would happen with time and a great deal of it too.

No one had expected him to fully understand this of course, even though he did quite well. He just didn't _care_ about such details. He wanted her awake and talking and he wanted to _know for himself_ that she was going to be okay…watching her pallid, frail, sleeping figure was just not convincing enough!

Naruto did not come by that day, nor had Kiba really expected him to. Quite truthfully, it was a miracle the boy had finally noticed her, Kiba thought, smirking inwardly on Hinata's behalf. What she saw in him, he would never understand. He was rowdy and more than a little obnoxious sometimes, but then again—other than Hinata—who wasn't these days?

So, Kiba concluded, Naruto wasn't so bad…and if he finally stopped being such a dunce and realized that Hinata was crazy about him and if he actually fell in love with her too they and got married and lived happily ever after, Kiba decided he would not mind. Not too much, anyway.

Shino, when he had come by the hospital later, had jadedly told him of his own training. The boy was torn between Kurenai and his father, both of whom wanted him to focus on their respective speciality techniques. Kurenai would lecture him about higher level genjutsu and his father would stress upon using the _kikai_ that were his Aburame legacy.

Shino also mentioned that it was interesting how Kakashi-sensei had handed Naruto over to someone else, Sasuke being his topmost priority now.

Kiba didn't much care. He only hoped that Naruto would miraculously become invincible over this next month and beat the living daylights out of that smug little bastard who called himself Hyuga Neji.

And speaking of the little devil, he was right outside the hospital, leaning against a wall when his pale eyes caught Kiba's.

Kiba gave him a death glare and Neji more or less returned it. Really, what else did Kiba expect?

"How is Hinata-sama?" the boy asked coolly.

_This_,Kiba did not expect. "You have some nerve to ask that! Don't tell me you care!" Kiba barked a short, bitter laugh.

Neji shrugged. "Her father wanted to know."

_Oh yes, the family connection. It would probably kill _him _to care. _"Couldn't come himself now, could he?"

Inwardly, Neji wanted to ask the same of his uncle. "Suppose not."

"Shouldn't you be training for the main matches?" Kiba asked, irritated.

"My training is my business," Neji said briskly.

Whatever. It wasn't as if Kiba honestly cared to know. His palms were itching to at least give the white-eyed boy a hit or two and he probably would have followed through had Naruto not talked to him about it the day before. Kiba didn't have too much faith in his next words. "Train hard then because Naruto's going to kick your ass!" It felt good to say them nonetheless.

"I doubt it," said Neji indifferently. "He lets his emotions get in the way far too much. It's harder to win when you have personal grudges on your mind."

"You're one to talk," Kiba snarled and started walking away.

Neji wanted to kill him for that. They sounded too much like Hinata's words. _Too close to the truth._

"Kiba!" The Hyuga called out.

"What?" Kiba whipped around.

"It wasn't my choice to fight her." The dog-boy had never really mattered much to Kiba but he didn't want any misunderstandings either. Even though Neji was easily on the better end of any fight he chose to pick, it usually wasn't a habit of his to hold grudges without good cause. Without _very_ good cause.

"But if you had a choice, you would have picked her," the boy's face was getting almost as red with fury as the clan-markings painted on it. "It was one hell of an opportunity to finally let all that anger out, ne? You know, I don't even have a problem with the _match._ I had just expected you to be decent enough to _stop _once it was over!"

Neji did not quite know what to say to that. No, he would not have chosen her if he had been given a choice but he didn't think there was any point in saying that to the Inuzuka now. Someone or other had obviously told him everything and well there was no use in denying it.

"Some family you are," Kiba spat. "Cousin tried to kill her, her old man couldn't walk twenty minutes to see her…I'd much rather be alone than have ties like _that_!"

Neji watched him leave this time, not finding it worth the bother to stop him. Although part of his mockery was justified, the boy clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Nor did he know that Neji, never been given the choice, had to deal with both.

Kiba couldn't understand having horrid tie to a horrid family which still left you with nothing more than the luxury of a name perhaps and all else was summed up in one simple word: alone.

Same for Hinata, he would realize, if he dwelt upon it long enough but that was something he did not allow himself to do. There really was no use in thinking about it and he had tried not to…still, if he were to, it could not be denied. The Inuzuka wasn't completely wrong.

Neji gave the hospital building one last look and started walking back to the Hyuga house.

Tomorrow, if he finished training early, he decided he would pay Hinata a visit.


	3. Day 3

**A/N:** The last installment! I'm actually okay with how it turned out. Thanks for reading guys!

As always, read, review, and make my day!

_Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. I sometime wish Kiba would be. And Neji. XD_

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**Day 3:**

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Today, she was awake when he went to visit her.

"Hinata!"

"Hi, Kiba-kun," she sounded a little tired. "What's going on?"

"Well, you didn't wake up for three days straight and I thought I was going to die waiting," he blurted out.

He saw her smile and her face flush a little. He hoped it was from her fever and not his words. "K-Kiba-kun…" Nope, he was wrong, and a little embarrassed. He hadn't meant for it to come out like that. "Do you mean that?"

"Oh, Hinata," he laughed, "I wasn't going to really _die_!I _was_ worried though." Akamaru yipped and settled in her lap and Kiba smiled at the sight. "We all were. Naruto came couple days ago and Shino dropped by earlier today."

"N-N-Naruto-kun…came?" she asked, unable to suppress her excitement.

"Yeah…" Kiba trailed off. He supposed he should have been happy the spotlight was at least off of him even though poor Shino was ignored altogether. "He left to train now. He's facing Neji in the main matches," he frowned, contemplative. "Bad luck, eh?"

He had expected her to gasp, to be shocked, or at least worried. He had not, however, expected her to calmly say, "Naruto-kun will be fine. It's Neji-nii-san we should worry for," and they shared a smile. She really did surprise him sometimes.

Still, he was a little angry about something. "I told you to give up if you matched against him, Hinata. I told you he would not go easy on you," Kiba said softly. She was the only one he could manage to use this tone around even if he had felt like throttling someone.

"I'm sorry Kiba-kun. I…I just couldn't."

Kiba vaguely recalled Naruto's words about having something to prove.

Sighing, he managed to mumble, "Well I guess I wouldn't understand." He patted her hand awkwardly and felt a little guilty because he could not begin to comprehend the depths of this Hyuga mess and probably never would. "Kurenai-sensei told me you put up a good fight. He was being one hell of a jackass, wasn't he?"

"He said I couldn't change and I really wanted to, Kiba-kun. I really wanted to. I wanted to become stronger, have a shadow of my own, and not just walk in the shadow of others."

Though her voice was still calm, her words were fierce. He couldn't remember her ever talking like this before and decided he was rather proud. "You're the strongest one of the three of us, you know? Shino and I, we have bugs and Akamaru and our nifty little clan tricks but you have more than that."

"The Byakugan's not much more than a little clan trick," she said, looking out the window.

"But there's more to _you_ than Byakugan, unlike that bastard Neji! _You_ can grow and change. You already have. He'll be the brat he is forever because he already thinks he's so damn perfect!" Again, he felt the urge to tear Neji to pieces.

"He didn't want to hurt me though. He told me to give up ahead of time too."

_He told you to give up so he could win, Hinata, _but Kiba didn't say this out loud. He didn't know if she had been conscious to witness this but he didn't mention how their Jounin sensei and three others had to stop the boy from killing Hinata in the end. Instead he sighed. "There are some people out there who don't deserve your kindness, Hinata."

"Neji-nii-san _needs_ kindness," she glanced at him. "He needs a lot of it."

The boy snorted at this. "He asked about you though, said your father sent him. I still don't forgive him but I thought you should know."

"My father didn't come though, did he?" she asked with a bitter smile. "Neji-nii-san did, while I was sleeping today. A medic-nin told me, and look," she pointed to a small arrangement of white flowers which Kiba gaped at for quite some time, "but _he _didn't come."

Kiba still blinked at the flowers, vaguely remembering them from the Yamanaka flower shop when he had bought his own bouquet for his team mate, and realized that he _really_ didn't understand the workings of Hyuga at all.

He didn't want to be wrong about Neji as well….not like he was wrong about Naruto. He wanted to hate Neji because it was easy to hate Neji and well, Neji had made it so easy for himself to hate Hinata all these years.

Nevertheless, there were times like this given moment when Hyuga Hinata baffled him more than anyone else in that mess of a clan. That would never change, he thought with an inward sigh, seeing the serene look on her face.

The main matches of the Chuunin exam were going to be interesting, Kiba decided, shortly interrupted by Hinata.

"Kiba-kun…"

"Hmm?"

He noted that his hand was still close to hers, and swallowed as she took it in her own and gave it a squeeze. "I hope I didn't worry you too much. They told me you came every day."

He shrugged a little awkwardly, unable to take his eyes off their hands and a little embarrassed at the fact he couldn't. "You had us all worried but I'm glad you're better now." Akamaru nestled himself against the curve of her other arm and with the hand not holding Kiba's, she scratched behind his ears.

She released Kiba's hand only to place it on his arm and pull him a little closer to the hospital bed. Akamaru was going to have to be ignored for a moment because the boy had seemed to beat his dog in getting her full attention.

And Kiba, who probably wouldn't have minded a scratch behind the ears either, got a full Hinata-style hug instead. It was a little awkward because of the angle of the hospital bed and how he had to somewhat bend over her a little but it was nonetheless gentle and sincere, the essence of Hinata herself.

Three days, he realized, were nothing.

If he had known that he would have been gifted with this, he could have waited a hundred.

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